How to earn and use Air Miles to save money?

Miles are the rewards that are offered on your shopping, dining, travel and many more expenses. These Miles can be redeemed for travel bookings - like availing discounts on flight tickets, free upgrades, and much more depending upon the type of miles earned.

There are two very popular Miles programmes in the UAE. One is an airline specific miles and the other is the Airmiles Middle East.

Airline Specific Rewards - Some airline-specific credit cards offer miles that can be redeemed only while booking tickets for a particular airline like Etihad, Emirates, etc., and also for shopping and other expenses.

Air Miles ME - This is the loyalty programme that earns you Airmiles on shopping, travel, dining, partner credit card usage, etc.

What are Air Miles?

Air Miles is a loyalty programme that makes your expenses like shopping, travel, dining, etc., beneficial by offering reward points that can be redeemed for free flight tickets, hotel stays, shopping and much more. This is currently available in the UAE, Bahrain and Qatar.

How to earn Miles?

A common misconception is that miles can be earned only on travel bookings. This is wrong. Miles can be earned on any purchase made using the specific platform under the loyalty programme.

Earning Air Miles

To earn Air Miles, you need to register for the programme either on their website or mobile app. When you register for the Air Miles programme, you will be provided with a virtual card or a key tag on filling out basic details like name, phone number, email address, date of birth, etc. Upon providing the details, a confirmation email will be sent to your address.

On registering, you will be provided with a card number which needs to be used on the mobile app to activate your virtual card.

The key tag provided by Air Miles can be collected from their partner outlets.

Other than directly enrolling with Air Miles, you can register with them by using their partnered credit cards like HSBC. HSBC credit cardholders are automatically signed up to the Air Miles programme.

HSBC Black Credit Card, HSBC Platinum Credit Card, HSBC Advance Credit Card, and HSBC Premier Credit Card users can get up to 2.5 Air Miles per Dh1 spent using the card. These cards can be used on travel, domestic and international, and online purchases to earn miles. The minimum salary for HSBC credit cards is Dh5,000. The annual fees range from Dh0 to Dh1,500.

Once you are registered with the programme, you can spend at their partnered outlets and earn miles in return. Some of their partner outlets include Damas, Careem, Sharaf DG, etc.

Air Miles can be earned on shopping, home services, at restaurants, entertainment, leisure, travel, etc. When you make a specific purchase using your Air Miles account, you earn Air Miles in return. The number of Air Miles earned varies at each service or product purchased.

For example, on Careem rides, Dh1 is equivalent to 1 Air Mile. So each time you take a Careem ride and pay using the Air Miles card, you earn Air Miles according to the ride charges. These Air Miles can be doubled when you use the specific Air Miles partnered credit card like HSBC.

Similarly, you can earn 3 Air Miles per $1 (Dh3.67) spent at Booking.com, 1 Air Mile per Dh1.5 spent at Sharaf DG Electronics, etc.

The best way to earn Air Miles is when you earn something on your usual spending instead of spending for the sake of Air Miles. If you are a regular Careem rider, then this programme is beneficial for you. Check out the outlets, restaurants, overall Air Miles partners and if they are your regular destinations, you can earn a good range of Miles.

Earning Airline Specific Miles

Airline Specific Miles like Etihad guest miles and Emirates Skywards Miles can be earned through bank debit cards or credit cards.

On using Emirates Skywards Cards, you can earn 1 mile per Dh1 spent at The Dubai Mall, 1 mile per $2 (Dh7.35) spent at Damas, 1 mile per $2 spent at Careem, 8 miles per $1 spent at Avis, up to 3.5 miles per $1 spent at Hertz, and many other merchants.

Emirates Skywards & FlyDubai Codeshare agreement

Emirates and FlyDubai have a codeshare agreement which means these airlines share their flights in order to expand the market presence by increasing the number of flights. Taking the loyalty programme clause of the agreement into consideration, the flight ticket purchases made on FlyDubai can also earn you Skywards Miles. Emirates Skywards members are eligible to earn both Skywards Miles and Tier Miles. Tier Miles are useful in upgrading your membership privileges like earn bonus miles, upgrades in the flight tickets, etc.

On using Etihad Guest Cards, you can earn 1 mile per $3 (Dh11.02) spent at Joy Alukkas, 1 mile per Dh2 spent at VLCC, etc.

Some debit/credit cards that provide miles

Abu Dhabi Islamic Bank (ADIB) Emirates Skywards World Elite Credit Card
ADIB offers 50,000 skyward miles as a welcome bonus on Emirates Skywards World Elite Card which is huge as you can get a free one-way Emirates flight ticket from Dubai to Singapore or a return ticket from Dubai to London. The cardholders will also get an upgrade to Emirates Gold-tier membership on spending Dh5,500 using the card. It provides 3 miles per Dh68 spent on Emirates or Flydubai tickets, 2 miles per Dh3.68 spent on foreign currency spends, 1.5 miles per Dh3.68 spent on local currency transactions and 0.25 miles per Dh3.68 spent on specific categories like utility bills, education, supermarkets, public transport, etc.

ADIB Emirates Skywards World Elite Card also provides free valet parking facilities, access to airport lounges, four free Emirates home check-in services in Dubai, golf club access, etc.

Annual fee: Dh4,500

Minimum salary required: Dh25,000

Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank Etihad Guest Visa Platinum Credit Card
This card provides 12,000 welcome bonus miles and up to 1.25 guest miles (1.25 miles on Etihad guest purchases, 1.25 miles on international purchases, 1 mile spent on local purchases, 0.33 miles on utility bills, education, supermarkets, public transport, etc.) per $1 spent on the card along with 1,000 Etihad guest miles per month when the purchases exceed $1,000 in a month. It comes with other benefits like up to 12 per cent discount on Agoda bookings, 8 per cent on hotels.com, free access to airport lounges, up to 30 per cent off at selected restaurants and much more.

Annual fee: Dh525. For ADCB Excellency customers, there will be no annual fee charged and for Privilege Club Members, 50 per cent off is provided.

Minimum salary required: Dh15,000

Emirates NBD Skywards Signature Credit Card
Emirates NBD Skywards Signature cardholders can get up to 1.5 Skywards miles per USD spent (1.5 miles on Emirates/FlyDubai, 1 mile on international purchases and 0.75 miles spent on local purchases) along with 40,000 skywards miles as a welcome bonus. It offers free airport lounge access, golf club privileges, free valet parking facility and complimentary 2 for 1 deals.

Annual fee: Dh700

Minimum salary required: Dh15,000

Dubai Islamic Bank Skywards Infinite Credit Card
This card offers up to 75,000 Skywards miles (25K) on card activation, 25K on spending more than or equal to USD 20K (Dh73.460) in first four billing statements and 25K on balance transfer as a welcome bonus. It offers 2 Skywards miles per $1 on Emirates spends, 1.5 skywards miles per USD foreign currency spend and 1 mile per $1 spent on local currency transactions.

These miles are offered along with discounts on dining, health club privileges, free Skywards silver membership, free access to airport lounges, etc.

Annual fee: Dh2,625

Minimum salary required: Dh35,000

Emirates NBD Skywards Visa Debit Card
Emirates NBD offers Skywards Debit Card on their Savings Account. This card gives up to 5 skywards miles on equivalent $1 spent on the card. Along with the miles on purchases, they also offer up to 50,000 bonus miles. This is an interest-bearing account that comes with other benefits like free access to airport lounges, discounts on Careem rides, golf privileges, free valet parking, and much more.

This account and debit card are provided only to priority banking customers. A monthly minimum average balance of Dh500,000 should be maintained. A joining fee of Dh2,500 is charged in the first year of account opening and from the second year, Dh200 is charged as a monthly fee.

Where and how can you redeem your Miles?

The redemption of the miles earned depends upon the value you’ve gathered so far.

Air Miles can be redeemed for shopping vouchers, food, dining, travel tickets, hotel stays, Careem rides and much more. The Air Miles earned can be exchanged with your family accounts. This way you can accumulate all the Air Miles in one account and spend once and for all. But ensure that the family Air Miles account is active with one of the Air Miles partnered programmes.

Air Miles can also be exchanged for Airline specific miles like Emirates Skywards Miles or Etihad Guest Miles.

Emirates Skywards Miles: 12 Air Miles = 1 Skywards Mile. The Emirates Skywards Miles can be redeemed for free Emirates flight tickets, hotel stay discounts, shopping, etc. Emirates Skywards Miles can be redeemed for flight FlyDubai tickets as well.

Etihad Guest Miles: 9 Air Miles = 1 Etihad Guest Mile. Guest Miles can be redeemed for flight tickets, upgrades, etc.

In order to redeem Air Miles to Skywards/Etihad guest miles, you need a minimum of 30,000 Air Miles. To redeem Air Miles for shopping vouchers, car rentals, etc., a minimum of 14,000 miles are required.

Miles earned on specific airline cards can be redeemed for flight tickets, upgrades, shopping, bill payments, etc. You can visit the airline website (Etihad/ Emirates/FlyDubai) and redeem the miles earned.

While redeeming miles earned for flight tickets, you can redeem the miles for the entire ticket price or a mix of money and miles.

You must also note that the miles you earn on spending a specific amount will not be similar when you redeem. For example, on spending $1 on Careem rides using your Emirates Skywards Card, you earn 1 Skywards Mile. While you redeem, 4500 skyward miles are equivalent to $25 (Dh91.83) Careem credits.

How can Air Miles help in saving money?

Air Miles help you save money on your regular purchase activities. You need not make a specific purchase in order to earn miles. And as said earlier, the earned miles can be redeemed for retail purchases, dining vouchers, and most importantly travel ticket discounts which can be up to 100 per cent. Hence, if you are a frequent traveller, then getting free air tickets will be a good deal.

In order to get a free flight ticket, you need a certain amount of miles. For example, you need a minimum of 12,000 Etihad Guest miles to get a free Etihad airways ticket from Abu Dhabi to Chennai, India. Whereas, you need 32,500 skywards miles to get a free Emirates airways ticket from Abu Dhabi to Chennai, India.

The required miles are different for flight upgrades, say from economy to business or first class. Once a specific amount of miles is collected, you can visit the airline’s website and redeem those according to your needs.

Before signing up for a particular miles credit card or Air Miles programme, you need to check the number of miles offered. Take your expenses into the picture and make a rough estimation of miles that can be earned monthly. This information will make you understand how advantageous miles can be for you.

How beneficial is it to get an Air Miles Credit Card with an annual fee?

Not all credit cards come with zero annual fees. The annual fees on the miles cards can range from Dh0 to Dh4,500. If you are a frequent traveller, then using a miles credit card can save you a huge amount on your flight tickets, hotel stays, etc. Check your travel expenses and calculate how much you can save with Airmiles. If your travel savings are huge when compared to the annual fee paid, then it is profitable.

Can we purchase Miles?

Yes. If you are not having sufficient Emirates Skywards Miles or Etihad Guest Miles, then you can purchase the required amount of miles on their website.

You can get 1000 skywards miles per $30 (Dh110.20) and a maximum of 200,000 skywards miles can be purchased (depends on the membership). In the case of Etihad Guest Miles, 1000 miles are provided for $20 (Dh73.46).

Points to Remember

While you earn miles (Air Miles or airline-specific miles), you need to understand certain things to avoid misconceptions that can end you up in trouble with the merchant.

Validity: The miles earned comes with validity. In the case of Air Miles, they are valid for a maximum of three years, Skywards miles are valid for three years and the validity of Etihad Guest miles depends upon the membership tier i.e. miles earned on Etihad Guest Bronze tier are valid for two years, miles earned on Etihad Guest Silver tier are valid for two-and-half years, miles earned on Etihad Guest Gold tier are valid for three years, and miles earned on Etihad Guest Platinum tier are valid for three years.

Specific category purchases: Purchases through credit cards on specific categories like utility bill payments, education, public transport, government services, etc., may earn fewer miles when compared to miles earned on other categories.

Credit limit: The miles earned on credit cards will not be entitled if the credit limit on the card is exceeded.

Maximum cap: On specific expenses like school fees, Etihad miles earned will have a maximum cap at Dh3,500.

Air Miles is definitely one of the most useful rewards provided on your expenses. The best part is that you need not spend beyond your spending budget in order to avail miles. You benefit from your regular purchases. Though you earn a good range of miles, not redeeming it for a favourable expense is pointless. Ensure you make use of the loyalty programme wisely.

The writer is Co-Founder and Director at MyMoneySouq, a marketplace for personal finance products in the UAE.